ASCO Helps Burj Dubai Reach New Heights in Power Transfer

According to Emerson Network Power, ASCO Power Technologies, a division of Emerson, will help keep the power on for the planet’s tallest building: Burj Dubai, a tower in the United Arab Emirates.

ASCO is providing 13 power transfer switches and 105 bypass-isolation power transfer switches to Burj Dubai, which will set a new record as the tallest building in the world—surpassing Taipei 101 in Taiwan—once it is complete. The ASCO power transfer switches and bypass-isolation power transfer switches will help power an office complex, cigar club, the world’s first Armani Hotel, residential suites, shopping complex, a 15,000-square-foot fitness facility and other spaces in the building.

When completed in 2008, Burj Dubai will be the tallest building in the world in all four categories that the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat recognizes: spire height, the highest occupied floor, roof height and pinnacle height.

The building continually sets records for size and construction methods, such as the highest observation deck, the fastest elevators and concrete pumping height. Once complete, the tower will stand an estimated 2,300 feet with 160 stories. To get a better idea of the tower’s enormous height, it is almost as tall as the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building would be if they were stacked atop one another.

The spire, which contains communications equipment, will be seen from 60 miles away.

Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed Burj Dubai. The tower joins the Sears Tower in Chicago and the Freedom Tower in New York in the firm’s portfolio of super-tall skyscrapers.

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